The present invention relates to a new and distinct Cephalanthus plant, botanically known as Cephalanthus occidentalis and hereinafter referred to by the name ‘SMCOSS’.
The new Cephalanthus plant is a product of a controlled breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Grand Haven, Mich. The objective of the breeding program is to create new compact and freely branching Cephalanthus plants with improved flowers and cold hardiness.
The new Cephalanthus plant originated from an open-pollination in 2005 in Grand Haven, Mich. of Cephalanthus occidentalis ‘Britton Lake’, not patented, as the female, or seed, parent with an unknown selection of Cephalanthus occidentalis as the male, or pollen, parent. The new Cephalanthus plant was discovered and selected by the Inventor in 2009 as a single flowering plant within the progeny of the stated open-pollination in a controlled environment in Grand Haven, Mich.
Asexual reproduction of the new Cephalanthus plant by softwood cuttings in a controlled environment in Grand Haven, Mich. since June, 2009 has shown that the unique features of this new Cephalanthus plant are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations of asexual reproduction.